Reply to thread

Message

[QUOTE="IthacaMatt, post: 5024333, member: 405"]
Yes, one more thing I would add, Pete, is that I hope he settles on the roster & the main 14 or 15 guys, and plays them more.  The time to cycle through the whole damn player pool is over.  We know who our guys are, and they all seem to be getting better.  I just want these guys to build more real chemistry working together.

I think it is a huge advantage that so many of them play for sophisticated European clubs, so these guys can understand and take on the instruction better than some of the young MLS guys, in particular (thinking of Scally, in a previous window), who think the national team instructions and tactics need to be dumbed down, since the national team only gets together for short windows.

In fact, this is the one area where sticking with Berhalter made the most sense.  If we want our European guys to play with sophisticated tactics like they do with their clubs (which will improve our chances in international competitions), then we have to emulate THAT approach, rather than the traditional US approach of defend and hit on the counter.  We aren't winning any trophies playing a 4-4-2.  LOL

Klinsmann wanted to play this way, but had no freaking idea how to teach it. He always left the tactics to others. (Not a coach.). Berhalter has implemented what Klinsmann wanted to do.  These guys playing in Europe are so much better than the ones Klinsmann was recruiting, though, and we are so much farther along as a country because so many of these young kids went to Europe as teens, and learned the right way to play there.

We need to tighten up.  We were sloppy with the ball.  But that's a nice collection of talent we've got here.  These next couple years are full of huge promise.
[/QUOTE]

Verification

What is a Syracuse fan's favorite color?